Currently reading: An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942–1943 by Rick Atkinson. A brilliantly pitiless account — pitiless in that Atkinson makes no attempt to disguise how radically incompetent the Allies were at this early stage of the war. Strategic planners mentally deformed by arrogance, ignorance, or national chauvinism; tactical planners who couldn’t plan; logisticians who couldn’t organize; field commanders who were reckless when circumstances called for caution and timid when they called for boldness; navigators who couldn’t navigate; helmsmen who couldn’t steer; drivers who couldn’t drive; communications officers who couldn’t send or receive communications; artillerymen who couldn’t aim; infantrymen who ran brainlessly in any and all directions or went to sleep under hedges. If it weren’t so tragic it would be farcical. And if, as some wanted, the bosses had ignored North Africa and headed straight for France, I’d be writing this in German. 📚